Monday, February 16, 2009

It has been almost a year since I've made shabu shabu at home. Although I did report about a wonderful shabu shabu dinner I had in Japan in December. I actually made this meal a few weeks ago but am just getting around to blogging about it now. Please forgive me for being so late with my offering.

Shabu shabu is traditionally made with beef that is sliced paper thin. The name comes from the sound the beef makes as you swish it back and forth with your chopsticks in a pot of boiling broth. This is a wonderful family meal where everyone gets to share in cooking the meal at the table. My sirloin is not as marbled with fat as is usual for shabu shabu. I have some lean grass fed local beef that is still flavorful but also much healthier for you. Since the beef is only barely cooked, the texture still comes out tender even without the fat.

Shabu shabu also requires that you cook vegetables in the broth after you eat the beef. Here are bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, carrots, baby bok choy and napa cabbage ready to be cooked.

The table is all set with my nabe pot on the burner.

Before we sat down to eat the shabu shabu I fried up some frozen gyoza and served them with a spicy chili vinegar sauce.

The pot is heating up.

I have been soaking this kombu in the pot of water for a few hours to flavor the broth. This was removed once the pot came up to boiling.

I served two dipping sauces for my shabu shabu tonight. The first has soy, vinegar, green onions and grated daikon radish.

The second sauce is made from sesame paste, soy and vinegar.

We've eaten the meat and now it's time for the veggies.

After you have had your fill of meat and vegetables, the broth that has been flavored even more intensely by all the food being cooked in it is used to prepare noodles. These udon noodles were made from scratch and cut just before cooking.

WOW....i miss shabu shabu. this looks soooo good. i used to eat this all the time in little tokyo in l.a. I've yet to find some in albuquerque. I've always wanted to make this at home. It doesn't look complicated, i would just need the right equipment. Do you slice your own meat or do you have it done at the store?